Isaiah spoke of Jesus in a passage that looked to the coming salvation of God (Isaiah 52 & 53). He said that, “...his visage was so marred more then any man…”. He was like a root out of a dry ground and when he would be seen there would be no beauty that would make him desirable. He said that he would be despised and rejected and acquainted with grief and that folks would hide there faces from him. He said that he would bear all of our grief's, carry our sorrows, be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastened for our peace and bear stripes for our healing. And even tough he would do this for our salvation, he would be considered smitten and afflicted of God. The Lord would lay upon this man the iniquity of us all and his soul would be made an offering for sin.
What’s God Ever Done For Me?
That’s quite a lot to expect from someone born into the modesty of a carpenter’s family while in transit and in a place normally prepared for the care of animals. But it was all planned before the world began (II Tim. 1:9).
Jesus knew when he came that he would be rejected, betrayed, beaten, spat on slapped in the face, cursed and ridiculed. The crown made of thorns and the march to Golgotha came as no surprise nor were the nails that were forcefully driven through his flesh and upon which the weight of his body was suspended above the earth for about six hours. It was all for you and me. It was planned, not ahead of time, but before time.
And to think that at any point he could have changed his mind. He told Peter (Matt. 26:53) that the Father would give him more than twelve legions of angels (not 10,000 as the song says, but a minimum of 48,001 by Roman count). But as he hung on the cross, he called not for the angels, but for God to forgive his persecutors.
And why did he do this? He did it to keep me from suffering what I deserve and to give me what no man can earn. Kinda makes my “ultimate” sacrifice of showing up for worship and Bible study a little puny, huh?